There Should Never Be A Next Time
by shadow warren
Summary: Barry is battling a meta-human who can control sound. Unfortunately, Barry gets the worse end of the stick.


**I do not own the Flash, but Barry and Oliver? I wish I knew them.**

Never fight a meta-human with sound powers. Barry Allen should have known that already after Hartley. But no. Barry was fighting a meta-human who could take any sound wave and multiply it tenfold. It really sucked having your own voice turned against you. What made matters worse was when the CCPD turned up. You know how loud it is when the sound of at least ten guns firing is made even louder and sent directly into your face? Answer: really fucking loud. Barry didn't have time to dodge or do anything to even try to get out of the way of the deadly sound wave. He had no choice, but to stand there and take the whole thing. It was so loud that Barry didn't even hear anything. Barry dropped to the ground in a ball, but the damage was already done.

His body and mind were so abused that it took him a few minutes to realize that the sound wave had ended, and the cops were looking at him, waiting. Barry stumbled to his feet and disappeared in the flash of yellow light. Or he tried to anyways. He had barely gotten a few feet before he slammed into the nearest car, setting off the alarm. Or he assumed he did. All he could hear was a weird rumbling/ringing thing. Barry couldn't feel anything on his body either. No touch, no nothing. Barry once again got to his feet.

Instead of just starting to run, he just stood in place. He really tried, but he found that he couldn't move from that spot. Barry's eyes started to focus, and he saw blurrily saw Joe standing in front of him. Joe just stood there, and Barry just kept staring wondering why. This wasn't like Joe. Suddenly, Barry felt himself getting lower until he stopped. Joe just stayed in front of him. Barry was grateful. With no hearing and no feeling, Joe in his sights was acting like a rock for the Flash's nerves. Barry felt his eyelids get heavy and he gave in.

When Barry next opened his eyes, he was laying sideways next to Joe's chest. Barry was looking at the sky when Caitlin appeared in his vision. She mouthed something, but Barry didn't understand. She looked at Joe, nodded, and looked back at him. She reached out and took his hand. Barry only knew this because she had to lift his hand and it came into his line of site. Barry wished that he could hear or feel or just plain pass out. Caitlin seemed to hear his thoughts and she took out a syringe and gently inserted it into the wrist she was holding. Barry then faded out.

Barry gradually regained consciousness. The first thing he felt was the weight of a blanket resting on his legs. His ears were still ringing, but his vision wasn't blurry anymore. The CSI then did something really stupid; he tried to get up. Apparently, the sound of a six foot tall person slamming into the floor will attract a lot of attention.

"Barry!" came an admonished tone.

Barry looked up before he even registered that he had heard that. "What?"

Caitlin and Cisco were standing in front of him. Caitlin had her usual worried look and Cisco looked like he was trying not to laugh.

Barry was getting a little annoyed, "What?!" he repeated again.

Cisco finally got control and said calmly, "Barry, you're yelling."

Barry for his part tried to look contrite. "Sorry..."

Cisco walked over to him, slapped him on the back and helped him to his feet. Once Barry was securely on his feet, he took a few steps. Or he tried. His equilibrium was so off that he felt himself listing and his feet were tangling over the other. In short, it didn't take long for Barry's butt to become reacquainted with the floor. Barry, in a moment of frustration, pounded the floor and yelled. Joe came and tried to help him up. Barry shrugged him off and got up himself. Barry stumbled toward what he thought was the door, but walking was hard when you couldn't feel your body nor the floor. He felt a body near him, so he flung his arm up and yelled. He just wanted everyone to go away. Didn't they understand he couldn't feel their touches or hear their voices? Barry kept moving, grabbing anything in his path to keep his balance as he staggered away to lick his wounds. Barry finally made it out in the hallway and collapsed, his body forcing him to stop. He didn't lose consciousness completely and saw Cisco walk toward him. Barry didn't care at this point and let himself let go.

Bright lights and beeping woke Barry. The first thing he knew was that his hearing wasn't impaired anymore. Next, he saw that Joe and Iris were keeping watch over him. Problem was that they had both fallen asleep. He didn't want to wake them, so he kept still and scanned the room. He came across Caitlin as she entered the room.

"Hey," she spoke softly, trying not to wake the Wests', "How you feeling?"

Barry sighed, "Better. What happened?"

"You were fighting a meta-human who could amplify sound waves. The noise messed with your head. You couldn't feel anything and your inner ears were shot. Without your speed healing, you probably would have been permanently disabled."

Oh. Barry didn't know how to reply to that. Luckily Iris waking up saved him from having to answer. Barry shifted his hand a bit to grab hers and she looked at it. A big smile spread across her face as her eyes trailed up Barry's hand to his face. Barry couldn't help but smile back.

"All better, Barry?"

"All better."


End file.
